Margaret Cecil

Margaret Jones, Countess of Ranelagh (née Cecil; 1672/1673 – 21 February 1728) was an English courtier. She is one of the Hampton Court Beauties painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller for Queen Mary II.

Family Lady Margaret was the daughter of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and his wife Margaret, a daughter of the Earl of Rutland. She first married John Stawell, 2nd Baron Stawell; he died in 1692 leaving considerable debts and a daughter Anne, who married John Baber, esq. of Sunning Hill Park, Berkshire. Margaret subsequently married Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh (d. 1712) on 9 January 1696, who was expelled from the House of Commons for embezzlement in 1703. She was his second wife and they had no children.